Figs. 1, 2, 3. PoMayering is one of the simplest methods of making new plants. Score the bark, put a pot around the stem, fill it with moss, which must be 

 kept moist. As soon as the moss has become full of roots, remove by cutting the stem just below the pot and repot in good loam 



Multiplying Your Own House Plants— By Luke J. Doogue, 



PROPAGATING BY MEANS OF LEAVES, STEMS, OFFSETS, POT-LAYERING, PUTTING IN 

 WATER, ETC.— WHAT TO DO WITH RUBBER PLANTS THAT HAVE GROWN TOO BIG 



Massa- 

 chusetts 



ONE of the keenest pleasures in window 

 gardening is the propagation of plants 

 by methods other than seed-sowing. The 

 fact that a begonia can be, propagated by 

 •cutting up a leaf never fails to arouse wonder 

 in every new observer, and newspaper writers 

 often envelope this subject with a false at- 

 mosphere of allurement, as if initiating the 

 reader into the mysteries of Nature. As a 

 matter of fact, the underlying principle is 

 readily grasped: Theoretically, any plant 

 may be propagated by cuttings of some part. 

 The only reason why all plants are not prop- 

 agated by cuttings is that it is often easier 

 to raise them from seeds. 



The methods here mentioned are not mere 

 "stunts," such as newspapers exploit, but are 

 the sensible and customary methods for their 

 respective subjects. They require neither a 

 greenhouse nor extraordinary skill. But 

 there is no denying that they are interesting! 



PROPAGATING IN WATER 



Nothing could be simpler than to cut off 

 a piece of plant, put it in water and let it 

 send out new roots. Forget-me-nots will 

 do this, even in the form of cut flowers. The 

 umbrella plant (Cyperus alternijolius) is a 

 decorative plant of the sedge family which is 

 commonly grown in water gardens and makes 

 an excellent house plant. You may separate 

 a plant by dividing the root and put each 

 piece into a glass of water, as shown in Fig. 7. 



Cut off the stems just below the leaves and 

 put the tip that is left into water. The 

 cutting quickly makes roots and you may 

 either pot it or leave it in the tumbler, where 

 it will make a vigorous growth. 



PROPAGATION BY LEAVES 



The showy-leaved begonias are generally 

 multiplied in this way; also succulents, 

 gloxinias and that strange plant, the bladder- 

 leaf, or bryophyllum. This method is mostly 

 for plants with thick, heavy leaves that are 

 not easily or quickly raised from seeds. 



Let us suppose that you have some Rex 

 begonias that you want to increase. Select 

 a healthy, well-matured leaf, and after mak- 

 ing a number of incisions in it, lay it down so 

 that it will be in contact with the sand all 

 around. Keep the sand moist and warm. 

 This does not mean that you should shut out 

 all air, but keep the leaves out of draughts 

 while allowing a circulation of air. In the 

 course of a few weeks, you will be pleased to 

 see little plants starting from the incisions you 

 made in the leaf. These will grow rapidly, 

 and when they have made sufficient roots to 

 sustain themselves, you may cut them off 

 and pot them. 



To judge when this should be done, lift 

 the leaf carefully, and if you find roots in 

 abundance, then potting may be done with 

 safety. That pretty little house plant with 

 marbled foliage, Peperomia marmorata, can 

 78 



be easily multiplied by the leaves. Lay the 

 leaves, stems and all, on sand and cover the 

 end of the stem with the sand. The roots will 

 form in abundance at the end of the stem 

 buried in sand. When ready to pot, put them 

 in a small pot of sandy loam — about one- 

 fourth sand. The gloriously colored glox- 

 inias will respond to this treatment, but 

 instead of the sand, it would be better to 

 use a light, leafy soil — one-third each of 

 sand, leaf mold, and loam. Keep it on the 

 dry side, and in a short time a small bulb 

 will form at the end of the leaf. 



The most interesting begonia of the last 

 decade is Gloire de Lorraine, which is popu- 

 larly supposed to be difficult to propagate. 

 Nevertheless, an amateur may get dozens of 

 plants from a single one by simply taking 

 some of the well-matured leaves and putting 

 them in sand. When you take off the leaf, 

 shorten the stem about half and then lay the 

 leaf on sand. If conditions are right, you 

 will get a new growth from each leaf which 

 will develop into a new plant. Don't take 

 leaves that are too old or too tender. The 

 former will be hard to strike, and the latter 

 are likely to damp off. This is the best way 

 to propagate this famous begonia. 



PROPAGATING BY OFFSET 



Such plants as make offsets are easily 

 multiplied by the method which nature sug- 

 gests. An offset is a crown or rosette of 





